A thermal transfer printer arranges a thermal head and a platen roller opposite to each other across a paper conveyance path and arranges an ink ribbon between paper conveyed on the paper conveyance path and the thermal head to carry out thermal transfer printing. The ink ribbon is wound around a ribbon feeding roller, and the ink ribbon fed from the ribbon feeding roller passes through the space between the paper and the thermal head and is then wound around a ribbon winding roller.
On the other hand, a ribbon winding motor for driving and rotating the ribbon winding roller in one direction and a ribbon feeding motor for driving and rotating the ribbon feeding roller in a direction opposite to the direction of the ribbon winding roller are arranged in the thermal transfer printer. The ribbon winding roller is rotated through a force stronger than the force applied to the ribbon feeding roller, and in this way, the ink ribbon is fed in a state of being applied with an appropriate tension. In such a type of thermal transfer printer, the thermal head and the platen roller are arranged opposite to each other in a width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the paper conveyed on the paper conveyance path in one direction.
Incidentally, the ink ribbon includes a plurality of types such as resin type ink ribbon, semi-resin type ink ribbon, wax type ink ribbon and the like, and there are thermal transfer printers coping with the plurality of types of ink ribbons. In such a printer, if an appropriate tension is not applied to each ink ribbon when the type of the ink ribbon changes, wrinkles may be caused in the ink ribbon, which leads to a decrease in the printing quality.
To prevent the decrease in the printing quality caused by such a reason, the voltages to be respectively applied to the ribbon winding motor and the ribbon feeding motor must be adjusted manually according to the type of the ink ribbon to be used, the type of the paper, and further the printing speed.
The present invention provides a thermal transfer printer always capable of carrying out high-quality printing according to the ink ribbon to be used.